Heracleum Persicum by Private Landowners in Tromsø, Norway

Invasive Plant Science and Management 2017 10:166–179 © Weed Science Society of America, 2017. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Regulation of the Invasive Plant Heracleum persicum by Private Landowners in Tromsø, Norway Sophie Meier, Gregory N. Taff, Jens B. Aune and Sebastian Eiter* In the city of Tromsø in northern Norway, invasive Tromsø palm (Norwegian: Tromsøpalme; English: Persian hogweed) is widespread. Although Tromsø palm has negative impacts on biodiversity and contains a phototoxic sap that burns human skin, it is also considered to be a local symbol of Tromsø city and is appreciated by many inhabitants. This study examined private landowners’ characteristics, perceptions, and landowners’ regulation of invasive Tromsø palm on their parcels on Tromsø Island in 2012 (vegetation season: May–September) to provide information concerning which landowner groups could be assisted by official regulation. Eleven key informants and 17 landowners were inter- viewed. Afterward, Tromsø palm on Tromsø Island was mapped using aerial photos and street-level photos from Google ® ® Maps /Google Street View and fieldwork verification. This distribution map was superimposed on a property map in a geographic information system to produce a map showing private parcels that contained Tromsø palm and associated neighboring parcels that did not contain Tromsø palm. Questionnaires were mailed to the 441 owners of the selected parcels, and 199 of the returned questionnaires were analyzed. Tromsø palm was more likely to be fully regulated/absent on a parcel that was inhabited (particularly if the owner lived on-site) and less likely to be fully regulated/absent if the parcel was jointly managed by several households. These findings indicate that authorities could focus their management efforts on supporting regulation efforts of those private landowners who own currently uninhabited or rented-out parcels and landowners of parcels jointly managed by several households.Furthermore,thoselandowners who found regulation measures against the plant on Tromsø Island important tended to have partly or fully regulated Tromsø palm on their plots. This might imply that information campaigns from authorities might encourage more landowners to regulate Tromsø palm. Nomenclature: Tromsø palm (Norwegian: Tromsøpalme; English: Persian hogweed); Heracleum persicum Fischer/ H. laciniatum auct. scand.; non Hornem. Key words: Hogweed, invasive plants, invasive species management, invasive species mapping, landowner plant regulation behavior. Globalization has moved the issue of alien and invasive spread more than 100 m from the parent plant within less species into the focus of public and scientific attention than 50 yr (Richardson et al. 2000). The International (McNeely 2001a). “Alien plants” include all plant species that Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources are nonnative to an area and brought there by humans. additionally defines “invasive species” as species that negatively “Invasive plants” are alien plants that are able to spread over a impact ecosystems and/or human health and that lead to high relatively wide distance within a relatively short time period in economic costs (McNeely et al. 2001). the area where they were introduced, e.g., seed plants that The number of alien plants introduced after 1500 CE (neophytes) has grown with the size of cities in Central DOI: 10.1017/inp.2017.11 Europe (Pyšek 1998). This could be due to the fact that in * First and third authors: Forest information systems employee, For- densely populated areas, seeds of alien plants can be easily estry Research and Competence Center, Jägerstrasse 1, 99867 Gotha, spread by displacement of soil and via car tires. Also, alien Germany; second and fourth authors: Research Scientist and Research plant species were planted in gardens from which they could Scientist, Norwegian Institute for Bioeconomy Research, P.O. Box 115, escape and grow in the wild (Hodkinson and Thompson N-1431 Ås, Norway. Corresponding author’s E-mail: meier.so@ 1997). In the city of Tromsø in northern Norway, an t-online.de invasive Heracleum species, called “Tromsøpalme” in 166 • Invasive Plant Science and Management 10, April–June 2017 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.34.90, on 27 Sep 2021 at 18:01:12, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/inp.2017.11 Management Implications This study identified private landowners in the city of Tromsø, Norway who do not or only partially regulate invasive Tromsø palm on their parcels, enabling the plant to spread to other parcels. These landowners could be considered primary candidates for education and support by authorities, given limited resources to control the weed. According to the results, private landowners who own currently uninhabited or rented-out parcels would be good candidates to receive financial incentives or other assistance, since the successful management of the plant demands frequent attention and action. Furthermore, the municipality should consider targeting landowners of recently acquired parcels and provide active help and education regarding how to manage the plant in the first years of ownership. Owners of jointly owned parcels were also found to be appropriate candidates to receive plant management assistance. At the same time, the authorities can develop priority areas to focus Tromsø palm control efforts, such as private lands Figure 1. Tromsø palm growing along the wall of a house in close to public areas, to reduce potential spread onto public lands, Tromsø city, August 2012. (Photo: S. Meier) and high-population areas, to reduce risk for injuries. It was shown in the study that some landowners deposit plant waste on their plots instead of using the garbage bin or the municipal fl waste-disposal site. This can lead to a further spread of the plant on white owers (Lid and Lid 2005) during the summer months their parcels. Landowners were also found to neglect tending (Fröberg 2010). The plant is perennial, reproduces only by specific areas on their parcels such as border areas or spaces that are seeds, and is polycarpic, which means it can produce seeds hidden or inaccessible, e.g., behind garages or on steep slopes. several times in its life (EPPO/OEPP 2009; Often and Graff Authorities might provide assistance or hold information campaigns on regulation of Tromsø palm in neglected areas and proper 1994). A single plant produces 6,000 to 8,000 seeds per season disposal of plant waste. Officials could improve landowners’ control (Alm and Often 2006). measures at parcel borders by encouraging coordination among The seeds of H. persicum can be dispersed by car tires, wind, landowners and providing education in neighborhood meetings. and water currents. Therefore, the plant is now frequently This study also showed that landowners who perceived Tromsø found in Tromsø along roads and beaches; however, it is also palm as a problem on Tromsø Island and those who believed in the necessity of regulation measures on Tromsø Island were more likely abundant in the city center (Alm et al. 2006; Alm and to have no Tromsø palm or fully controlled Tromsø palm on their Often 2006), growing in gardens, neglected green areas, and property. This may imply that education and information ditches (see also Figure 1). Inadequate prevention when new campaigns about the negative effects of invasive species could roads were built might also have contributed to its spread (key motivate private landowners to take action. informant: Norwegian Public Road Administration [NPRA, Norwegian: Statens vegvesen] personal communication 2012). For many garden owners in Tromsø, Tromsø palm lost its Norwegian (Heracleum persicum Fischer, Heracleum attractiveness as a garden plant because it was difficult to pre- laciniatum auct. scand., non Hornem.), has spread widely vent it from spreading throughout and beyond the garden. since it was introduced there in the 19th century as an Therefore, many garden owners cut down the plants and ornamental garden plant (Alm and Jensen 1993; Nilsen thoughtlessly threw the plant waste (including mature seeds) 1991). Population genetic analyses showed that Tromsø on adjacent parcels, thereby contributing to the uncontrolled palm seeds were probably brought from Iran via Great spread of the plant on Tromsø Island (key informants: Britain and Finland to northern Norway (Rijal et al. 2015). Green Warriors of Norway [GWN, Norwegian: Norges Jahodová et al. (2007) found that Tromsø palm probably is Miljøvernforbund] and Tromsø University personal commu- identical to H. persicum. The plant can be found in Iran, nication 2012). Iraq, and Turkey (European and Mediterranean Plant Pro- Since the end of the 1990s, officials and the key tection Organization/Organisation Européenne et Médi- informant of GWN have begun to worry about the ecological terranéenne pour la Protection des Plantes [EPPO/OEPP] impacts and the high density of Tromsø palm in Tromsø (key 2009), and this scientific name is therefore used in informants: GWN and Troms County governor [Norwegian: this paper. Fylkesmannen i Troms] personal communication 2012). Tromsø palm (Heracleum persicum)belongstothefamilyof Tromsø palm alters cultural landscapes and changes the Apiaceae (Lid and Lid 2005). It has a 1- to 4-cm-wide hollow species composition in the habitats it spreads into (Alm and stem with purple-red spots; the lower part of the stem is often Jensen 1993). It has been shown on a local scale that Tromsø completely purple-red. The plant can grow to 1- to 4-m high palm shades out other plants (Myrås and Junttila 1981) and, (EPPO/OEPP 2009; Often and Graff 1994). It produces under laboratory conditions, Tromsø palm seeds constrained Meier et al.: Regulation of H. persicum by Private Landowners • 167 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core.

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